Let's face it, who else could this be about?
[Tied for second place alongside Juno]
[Tied for second place alongside Juno]
>> Caught in the middle
Safari Academy prides itself on being a performance-focused school. That is meant to allude to the rigorous tests, the objective evaluations, the numbers and statistics that come to define each aspiring trainer. But for Courtney, this means acting.
She has always had a fiery personality, but while at the Academy, it felt less genuine and more performative. All because of Courtney's efforts to gain the respect of her classmates - after all, they only needed a couple days to pick her as the odd one out. Her family was not as affluent, her grades were not as good, her accent not as neutral. But… what about her Pokémon battling skills?
Surprise surprise, Courtney is either the first or the second best trainer of her class. So has decreed the year-end tournament.
On paper, it is no big deal. Just a quick and easy 1 vs 1 tournament between all the students in one class, with a young teacher supervising the scholars and acting as referee. All Pokémon are young, first stage evolutions provided by the Academy, that everyone can get the chance to familiarize with.
For the students, however, this is a big deal. The winner gets a good amount of bragging rights, a very powerful currency in the eyes of eleven or twelve year old preteens. And Courtney's opponent seems to know this well.
Shelby, twelve years old, daughter of a well-known company manager from Saffron. Perfectly combed black hair, tied with a white ribbon. Immaculate uniform. A good degree of confidence. All things that remind Courtney of a certain other girl she has fallen off with in the past.
Whatever her abilities in Pokémon battles actually are, they are overshadowed by the size of the pedestal she is standing on.
"Why'd you take so long, Shelby?" Courtney asks. Her inquisitorial brown eyes scan the face of her opponent, her messy red hair moves with the wind, the grin on her face comes and goes.
"I just want to look good for the award ceremony," Shelby replies with a grin of her own.
"You won't, regardless. Either Magby or the rain will mess it up!"
Alright, that is a tad over the line. Better to focus on the battle: it has already started and it is not going well.
Magby paired very well with Courtney and led her to the final with a series of dazzling performances, even defeating a Cubone in the previous round, but this matchup seemed impossible to overcome. Shelby had picked a Seel, and she too managed to edge past some tough battles where her opponents appeared to have the upper hand.
The Saffron native also seemed to have one more ace up her sleeve, the patience to stall a fight. Seel made himself very hard to damage right from the start, with a combination of Water Sport and Growl. Courtney would have achieved next to nothing by using Fire-type moves, so she had no choice but to wait it out and have Magby Leer her opponent - something that she was also happy to participate in. But now, it is time to change strategy.
Courtney's battles were like fireworks. A blast. Fast and spectacular.
Magby blows out a cloud of thick smoke to hide herself in. But soon after, she reveals herself again and comes barreling down the battlefield while using Flame Wheel. A quick blast of water from Seel is not quite enough to stop her, but it turns most of that fire into harmless steam. Courtney is clearly trying to look confident, if not for the audience, at least for her Pokémon partner - and Magby seems glad to meet her half way. She hits the ground as she spins, springs up with some momentum, and engulfs Seel in vile, purple gas.
Oh, now Courtney's eyes light up. It looks like Seel has been poisoned, and that is perhaps the only way she can turn the fight around. Shelby can no longer stall the fight.
While Magby tries to seize the chance and hit Seel, punch after punch, the wind starts blowing more intensely. The audience starts to look up towards the sky, someone complains about falling drops of water. Some more seconds pass and then, inexplicably, Seel feels better and is no longer under the effect of poison.
Courtney catches a grin on Shelby's face and gasps. The rain…
"You made me wait so that it would rain during our battle, didn't you?"
Shelby shrugs. "Well, you know…"
"It's not like you had to!"
At this point, the referee interrupts Courtney. "We should call it a day, before it starts to pour!" The young teacher exclaims, and on cue, the audience begins to thin out. Continuing the fight under the rain is not safe for the girls and especially is not safe for Magby. But the two girls are in a world of their own.
Needing the win after spending an entire year in class being perhaps the most popular girl, and mocking Courtney for not being up to her standards. Who's the loser now?
The Fire type makes a move, putting all of her desperation into one last Flame Wheel. Seel can slide around the wet field now, and does well to avoid it, but Magby too can do something like that, and reaches Seel at last. A white orb appears in front of him just before he gets struck, but the impact is still noticeable.
Courtney's enthusiasm is overflowing. But she is left with none of it once she realizes that Magby cannot stop spinning in place. The cloud of embers leaves way to a cloud of steam as the two Pokémon drift across the field, then the fight quiets down.
Silence sets. Seel stumbles, Shelby shivers, some spectators still stare, some sunbeams shine slightly.
"Stop, stop, stop!"
Seel still stands, stricken and tired but able to fight nonetheless. Magby, however, does not. Even if she had won, the rain is getting too strong for her to stay around regardless, and seeing her in that state… is not a sight Courtney can take.
Courtney runs over to Magby, trying to cover her up with her jacket before picking her up and bringing her inside the nearest school building. The teacher who acted as the referee for the fight follows her right away, so that he can keep an eye on Magby, and Shelby comes along too.
The black haired girl is the first to attempt an apology, but her opponent takes all the responsibility for what happened. Luckily, it is only a matter of minutes before Magby opens up her eyes again and gives Courtney a little appreciative nudge. The loss to Shelby may not be fair, but so isn't Magby being caught in the middle of it all.
The Saffron girl is different when there's not as many peers around. "You battled well in the end. You have had me scared since the first round," she admits, as she takes off the ribbon from her hair.
"But… you were good as well! I… I don't really know what trick you pulled at the end but that was very cool!" Courtney responds, still not buying Shelby's words. "You already had so much going your way."
"Some people just never notice that… the only important thing is winning."
"But… that's what I'm saying," the red haired girl pouts. "How are our classmates going to notice your skills if you already try to start the fight with an advantage? If there's ever another occasion to battle, let's just get straight to it and may the best win. You get me?"
"Maybe next year, Courtney," Shelby sighs. "For now, I just hope Magby is alright."
>> Little does she know, this is just the first time of many she will face Courtney and Magby together.
Safari Academy prides itself on being a performance-focused school. That is meant to allude to the rigorous tests, the objective evaluations, the numbers and statistics that come to define each aspiring trainer. But for Courtney, this means acting.
She has always had a fiery personality, but while at the Academy, it felt less genuine and more performative. All because of Courtney's efforts to gain the respect of her classmates - after all, they only needed a couple days to pick her as the odd one out. Her family was not as affluent, her grades were not as good, her accent not as neutral. But… what about her Pokémon battling skills?
Surprise surprise, Courtney is either the first or the second best trainer of her class. So has decreed the year-end tournament.
On paper, it is no big deal. Just a quick and easy 1 vs 1 tournament between all the students in one class, with a young teacher supervising the scholars and acting as referee. All Pokémon are young, first stage evolutions provided by the Academy, that everyone can get the chance to familiarize with.
For the students, however, this is a big deal. The winner gets a good amount of bragging rights, a very powerful currency in the eyes of eleven or twelve year old preteens. And Courtney's opponent seems to know this well.
Shelby, twelve years old, daughter of a well-known company manager from Saffron. Perfectly combed black hair, tied with a white ribbon. Immaculate uniform. A good degree of confidence. All things that remind Courtney of a certain other girl she has fallen off with in the past.
Whatever her abilities in Pokémon battles actually are, they are overshadowed by the size of the pedestal she is standing on.
"Why'd you take so long, Shelby?" Courtney asks. Her inquisitorial brown eyes scan the face of her opponent, her messy red hair moves with the wind, the grin on her face comes and goes.
"I just want to look good for the award ceremony," Shelby replies with a grin of her own.
"You won't, regardless. Either Magby or the rain will mess it up!"
Alright, that is a tad over the line. Better to focus on the battle: it has already started and it is not going well.
Magby paired very well with Courtney and led her to the final with a series of dazzling performances, even defeating a Cubone in the previous round, but this matchup seemed impossible to overcome. Shelby had picked a Seel, and she too managed to edge past some tough battles where her opponents appeared to have the upper hand.
The Saffron native also seemed to have one more ace up her sleeve, the patience to stall a fight. Seel made himself very hard to damage right from the start, with a combination of Water Sport and Growl. Courtney would have achieved next to nothing by using Fire-type moves, so she had no choice but to wait it out and have Magby Leer her opponent - something that she was also happy to participate in. But now, it is time to change strategy.
Courtney's battles were like fireworks. A blast. Fast and spectacular.
Magby blows out a cloud of thick smoke to hide herself in. But soon after, she reveals herself again and comes barreling down the battlefield while using Flame Wheel. A quick blast of water from Seel is not quite enough to stop her, but it turns most of that fire into harmless steam. Courtney is clearly trying to look confident, if not for the audience, at least for her Pokémon partner - and Magby seems glad to meet her half way. She hits the ground as she spins, springs up with some momentum, and engulfs Seel in vile, purple gas.
Oh, now Courtney's eyes light up. It looks like Seel has been poisoned, and that is perhaps the only way she can turn the fight around. Shelby can no longer stall the fight.
While Magby tries to seize the chance and hit Seel, punch after punch, the wind starts blowing more intensely. The audience starts to look up towards the sky, someone complains about falling drops of water. Some more seconds pass and then, inexplicably, Seel feels better and is no longer under the effect of poison.
Courtney catches a grin on Shelby's face and gasps. The rain…
"You made me wait so that it would rain during our battle, didn't you?"
Shelby shrugs. "Well, you know…"
"It's not like you had to!"
At this point, the referee interrupts Courtney. "We should call it a day, before it starts to pour!" The young teacher exclaims, and on cue, the audience begins to thin out. Continuing the fight under the rain is not safe for the girls and especially is not safe for Magby. But the two girls are in a world of their own.
Needing the win after spending an entire year in class being perhaps the most popular girl, and mocking Courtney for not being up to her standards. Who's the loser now?
The Fire type makes a move, putting all of her desperation into one last Flame Wheel. Seel can slide around the wet field now, and does well to avoid it, but Magby too can do something like that, and reaches Seel at last. A white orb appears in front of him just before he gets struck, but the impact is still noticeable.
Courtney's enthusiasm is overflowing. But she is left with none of it once she realizes that Magby cannot stop spinning in place. The cloud of embers leaves way to a cloud of steam as the two Pokémon drift across the field, then the fight quiets down.
Silence sets. Seel stumbles, Shelby shivers, some spectators still stare, some sunbeams shine slightly.
"Stop, stop, stop!"
Seel still stands, stricken and tired but able to fight nonetheless. Magby, however, does not. Even if she had won, the rain is getting too strong for her to stay around regardless, and seeing her in that state… is not a sight Courtney can take.
Courtney runs over to Magby, trying to cover her up with her jacket before picking her up and bringing her inside the nearest school building. The teacher who acted as the referee for the fight follows her right away, so that he can keep an eye on Magby, and Shelby comes along too.
The black haired girl is the first to attempt an apology, but her opponent takes all the responsibility for what happened. Luckily, it is only a matter of minutes before Magby opens up her eyes again and gives Courtney a little appreciative nudge. The loss to Shelby may not be fair, but so isn't Magby being caught in the middle of it all.
The Saffron girl is different when there's not as many peers around. "You battled well in the end. You have had me scared since the first round," she admits, as she takes off the ribbon from her hair.
"But… you were good as well! I… I don't really know what trick you pulled at the end but that was very cool!" Courtney responds, still not buying Shelby's words. "You already had so much going your way."
"Some people just never notice that… the only important thing is winning."
"But… that's what I'm saying," the red haired girl pouts. "How are our classmates going to notice your skills if you already try to start the fight with an advantage? If there's ever another occasion to battle, let's just get straight to it and may the best win. You get me?"
"Maybe next year, Courtney," Shelby sighs. "For now, I just hope Magby is alright."
>> Little does she know, this is just the first time of many she will face Courtney and Magby together.
